Your babies are on their way home...

Hi families and friends. We sent the group off to the airport at around 6am this morning, so they probably spent a couple of boring hours waiting around for the plane to leave. But we didn't want them to get stuck in traffic, so be it.

Happy to report that no one got seriously sick, no one got hurt. Nothing was stolen or lost, and only good relationships were fostered.

The mosaic celebrations were super fun. Your kids will have all kinds of photos when they get back as well as stories, so I won't spoil it too much for them, but we were able to buy the entire group including the Ghanaian kids lunch and have a party for them in the restaurant that we have been having our lunches made in. There were lots of speeches and gift giving and hugs and happy tears. I am truly touched by all the love that we generated with this mosaic. It reinforces why I am in this business in the first place! It was awesome to see the way everyone was interacting, and to be part of the hugfest that ensued.

The mosaic looks amazing, too, by the way! I don't have a picture of it on me right at the moment, but I'll post one soon for all to see. Ryan has created a li'l stop motion video of the entire process, that speeds the process up to 30 frames a second. He took a photo every 20 seconds for the entire time we were working so it is actually really cool to see. A blur of artists, black and white, working together to make this wonderful project happen!

Other highlights have included: feeding wild (but relatively tame) mona monkeys bananas from our hands, dancing in the village, a visit to the same slave castle that Obama visited, a scary trek on top of the trees at Kakum, lots of market forays and fabric buying, a couple of jaunts into Accra for the Art Center (read: shopping), lots of funky food (I even let 'em eat goat and fufu one day!), official ceremonies, and last night, a posh party at the Minister of Parliament's (move over, Hillary!) house complete with white tablecloths, catered food, and lots of high up official types. We didn't even know about the party until late in the afternoon of the day it happened, and we didn't have time to go back to the hotel and change. We showed up as we were (dirty, stinky, sweaty and wearing our funny day clothes) and had a blast.

I won't get into too much detail...I'm sure the kids will be full of stories and pics for you!

Talk to you again soon, we're taking our much deserved vacation starting today! I'll be back in the states the day before thanksgiving.

-kirstin

MOSAIC is done!

Celebrations are today.

Hi families!

Just a little note to let you know how much fun we are all having together. The kids have been working hard, eating Ghanaian food, shopping, taking care of their puppies, and having a good time in general.

Health is great overall, no one has contracted malaria or had a bout with 'runny stomach' yet, at least to my knowledge!

Let me see...our schedule for the next week is full! tomorrow the kids are going to the village of Appolonia to help clean the clinic and school before we send donations down. Thursday is our day for the canopy walk and the slave fort. Friday is the celebration and welcome ceremony for Appolonia. Saturday we go to the bead village. Sunday and Monday see us finishing the wall, and Tuesday is our grouting day. Wednesday we will unveil the mosaic, have a press conference and a party. And then you can have your kids back!

Thanks so much for raising such great people. I have really been enjoying their company!

More soon...

-Kirstin

Our Hotel:

Worksite:

Donor tiles:

They found puppies:

High School art students:

Daily lunch Spot:

Fabric Shopping:

Meeting the Mayor:

All is well. The mosaic should be done on schedule. We have a number of outings ahead of us this week. More later...

___________________________________________________________

Everyone is here and safe at the hotel. We'll have more updated later. Nick is taking a lot of pictures, so keep an eye out for those...

In order to make room for all the new photos coming soon the original front page has been moved to the link below:

You'll also be able to access versions of the front page in the sidebar.

Hand Prints to Vanguard Arrival